Remarks at a UN Security Council Meeting on Ukraine

U.S. Mission to the United Nations: Remarks at a UN
Security Council Meeting on Ukraine

AS
DELIVERED

Thank you Madam President. Listening to the
representative of Russia, one might think that Moscow had
just become the rapid response arm of the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights. So many of the assertions
made this afternoon by the Russian Federation are without
basis in reality.

Let’s begin with a clear and candid
assessment of the facts.

It is a fact that Russian
military forces have taken over Ukrainian border posts. It
is a fact that Russia has taken over the ferry terminal in
Kerch. It is a fact that Russian ships are moving in and
around Sevastapol. It is a fact that Russian forces are
blocking mobile telephone services in some areas. It is a
fact that Russia has surrounded or taken over practically
all Ukrainian military facilities in Crimea. It is a fact
that today Russian jets entered Ukrainian airspace. It is
also a fact that independent journalists continue to report
that there is no evidence of violence against Russian or
pro-Russian communities.

Russian military action is not a
human rights protection mission. It is a violation of
international law and a violation of the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of the independent nation of Ukraine,
and a breach of Russia’s Helsinki Commitments and its UN
obligations.

The central issue is whether the recent
change of government in Ukraine constitutes a danger to
Russia’s legitimate interests of such a nature and extent
that Russia is justified in intervening militarily in
Ukraine, seizing control of public facilities, and issuing
military ultimatums to elements of the Ukrainian military.
The answer, of course, is no. Russian military bases in
Ukraine are secure. The new government in Kyiv has pledged
to honor all of its existing international agreements,
including those covering Russian bases. Russian mobilization
is a response to an imaginary threat.

A second issue is
whether the population of the Crimea or other parts of
eastern Ukraine, are at risk because of the new government.
There is no evidence of this. Military action cannot be
justified on the basis of threats that haven’t been made
and aren’t being carried out. There is no evidence, for
example, that churches in Eastern Ukraine are being or will
be attacked; the allegation is without basis. There is no
evidence that ethnic Russians are in danger. On the
contrary, the new Ukrainian government has placed a priority
on internal reconciliation and political inclusivity.
President Turchinov – the acting President – has made
clear his opposition to any restriction on the use of the
Russian tongue.

No one has to explain to Ukraine’s new
government the need to have open communications, not only
with leaders of the country’s Russian ethnic minority in
the Crimea and elsewhere, but also with its neighbors. That
is why, when the current crisis began, the government sent
its former Chief of Defense to the region to try to defuse
the situation. A second emissary was prevented from entering
the Crimean Rada to engage in discussions. And it is why
Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly reached out to Russia.
Russia needs to reciprocate and begin to engage directly
with the Government of Ukraine.

I note that Russia has
implied a right to take military action in the Crimea if
invited to do so by the prime minister of Crimea. As the
Government of Russia well knows, this has no legal basis.
The prohibition on the use of force would be rendered moot
were sub-national authorities able to unilaterally invite
military intervention by a neighboring state. Under the
Ukrainian constitution, only the Ukrainian Rada can approve
the presence of foreign troops.

If we are concerned about
the rights of Russian-speaking minorities, the United States
is prepared to work with Russia and this Council to protect
them. We have proposed and wholeheartedly support the
immediate deployment of international observers and monitors
from the UN or OSCE to ensure that the people about whom
Russia expresses such concern are protected from abuse and
to elucidate for the world the facts on the ground. The
solution to this crisis is not difficult to envision. There
is a way out. And that is through direct and immediate
dialogue by Russia with the Government of Ukraine, the
immediate pull-back of Russia’s military forces, the
restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and the
urgent deployment of observers and human rights monitors,
not through more threats and more distortions.

Tonight the
OSCE will begin deploying monitors to Ukraine. These
monitors can provide neutral and needed assessments of the
situation on the ground. Their presence is urgently
necessary in Crimea and in key cities in eastern Ukraine.
The United States calls upon Russia to ensure that their
access is not impeded.

The leadership in Moscow may well
be unhappy about former President Yanukovych’s decision to
flee Ukraine and move in with them. Russia may be displeased
with the new government, which was approved by Ukraine’s
parliament by an overwhelming majority, including members of
Yanukovych’s own party. Russia has every right to wish
that events in Ukraine had turned out differently, but it
does not have the right to express that unhappiness by using
military force or by trying to convince the world community
that up is down and black is white. Russia’s calls to turn
back time to implement the February 21 Agreement ring
hollow. It was Yanukovych who failed to abide by the terms
of that agreement, fleeing Kyiv, and ultimately
Ukraine.

The United States categorically rejects the
notion that the new Government of Ukraine is a “government
of victors.” It is a government of the people and it is
one that intends to shepherd the country toward democratic
elections on May 25th – elections that would allow
Ukrainians who would prefer different leadership to have
their views heard. And the United States will stand strongly
and proudly with the people of Ukraine as they chart out
their own destiny, their own government, their own
future.

The bottom line is that, for all of the
self-serving rhetoric we have heard from Russian officials
in recent days, there is nothing that justifies Russian
conduct. As I said in our last session, Russia’s actions
speak much louder than its words. What is happening today is
not a human rights protection mission and it is not a
consensual intervention. What is happening today is a
dangerous military intervention in Ukraine. It is an act of
aggression. It must stop. This is a choice for Russia.
Diplomacy can serve Russia’s interests. The world is
speaking out against the use of military threats and the use
of force. Ukrainians must be allowed to determine their own
destiny. Thank you Madam
President.

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